Various technologies were developed in order to utilize the limited bandwidth offered by media conveying networks. A first technology is known as switched digital video and includes selecting which programs out of a larger set of programs to broadcast to end users. Another technology utilizes the Internet Protocol to unicast (and additionally or alternatively to broadcast) programs to end users.
In both cases, the transmission of programs that are not being watched by the end user is regarded as a waste of bandwidth. It would have been better to transmit other programs than those that are not being watched.
End users tend to leave their set top box on after turning their television off. In this case, the monitoring of the status of the set boxes alone will not indicate that the program is not watched.
One prior art solution aimed to improve the utilization of bandwidth involves sending, by a remote monitor, to end users that did not perform a channel change for several hours, a request to respond. If the end user does not respond to the request then the remote monitor determines that the end user does not watch the program and it can determine not to transmit the program. The remote monitor can be located in various locations and can be used to monitor one or multiple end users.
There is a growing need to provide efficient systems, methods and computer program products for efficient utilization of bandwidth.